Cold Cases in Pennsylvania
ColdCaseIndex documents 19 cold cases in Pennsylvania, spanning 1949–2012. 12 of these cases remain fully unsolved. Each case page includes documented details, status, and information on how to submit a tip.
By Type
By Status
All Pennsylvania Cases
Kortne Stouffer
Kortne Ciera Stouffer, a 21-year-old woman, vanished from her Palmyra, Pennsylvania apartment in the early hours of July 29, 2012, hours after police responded to disturbances there. She left behind her keys, phone, purs
Joey Lynn Offutt
Joey Lynn Offutt vanished from her rural Pennsylvania home, leaving behind four young children. In 2023, her boyfriend was charged with her murder after her remains were found.
Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone Jr.
Danielle Imbo, 34, and Richard Petrone Jr., 35, a dating couple, vanished after leaving a bar on South Street in Philadelphia on the night of February 19, 2005. Neither they nor Petrone's pickup truck have ever been foun
Ray Gricar
Ray Gricar, the longtime district attorney of Centre County, Pennsylvania, vanished on April 15, 2005, after telling his girlfriend he was taking a day trip. His abandoned car was found in Lewisburg the next day, and his
Hyun Jong "Cindy" Song
Hyun Jong "Cindy" Song, a 21-year-old Penn State student, vanished after being dropped off at her State College, Pennsylvania, apartment early on November 1, 2001, following a Halloween night out. Some of her belongings
Judy Smith
Judy Smith, a 50-year-old nurse from Newton, Massachusetts, vanished from a Philadelphia hotel in April 1997. Five months later her stabbed remains were found more than 600 miles away in the North Carolina mountains, and
Gary Heidnik Victims
Gary Heidnik kidnapped, tortured, and killed women in the basement of his Philadelphia home. He was arrested in 1987 when a victim escaped. Two women died. Heidnik was convicted of first-degree murder and executed in 199
Cherrie Mahan
Cherrie Mahan, an 8-year-old girl, vanished on February 22, 1985, after getting off her school bus about 50 feet from her home in rural Winfield Township (near Cabot), Butler County, Pennsylvania. A blue van with a skier
The Frankford Slasher
The 'Frankford Slasher' is the name given to an unidentified serial killer who stabbed to death at least eight or nine women in and around the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia between 1985 and 1990. One man, Leonar
Philip Testa
Philadelphia mob boss Philip 'Chicken Man' Testa was killed by a nail bomb planted under his front porch. The bombing sparked a Mafia war within the Philadelphia crime family. Despite the Mafia connection, no one was for
Holly Branagan
Fifteen-year-old Holly Branagan was stabbed to death in her Camp Hill, Pennsylvania home. In 2021, DNA evidence led to the arrest of Joseph Haines, a former classmate.
Susan Reinert
English teacher Susan Reinert was found dead in the trunk of her car in Ardmore with her two children missing and never found. Her colleague and former lover William Bradfield was convicted of her murder, and Dr. Jay C.
Holly Maddux
Holly Maddux was murdered by Ira Einhorn, a prominent counterculture figure in Philadelphia. Her body was found in a trunk in his apartment. Einhorn fled to Europe for 23 years.
Evelyn Colon ("Beth Doe")
The dismembered remains of a pregnant young woman were found in three suitcases along the Lehigh River near White Haven, Pennsylvania, in December 1976. Known as 'Beth Doe' for 44 years, she was identified in 2021 throug
Springfield Jane Doe
The nude body of a young woman was found wrapped in a shower curtain in a ditch in Springfield Township, Pennsylvania. Despite distinctive physical features and evidence of pregnancy, she has never been identified.
Betsy Aardsma
Graduate student Betsy Aardsma was stabbed to death in the stacks of Penn State's Pattee Library on the day after Thanksgiving 1969. Despite a massive investigation, her killer was never identified.
Boy in the Box (Joseph Augustus Zarelli)
A young boy's body found in a box in Philadelphia in 1957 went unidentified for 65 years. In 2022, DNA genealogy identified him as Joseph Augustus Zarelli.
Joseph Augustus Zarelli
A young boy's battered, naked body was found in a cardboard box in Fox Chase, Philadelphia. Known for decades as 'America's Unknown Child,' he was finally identified in 2022 as Joseph Augustus Zarelli through DNA genealo
Dorothy Forstein
Dorothy Forstein vanished from her locked Philadelphia home while her children slept upstairs. She had previously survived a brutal beating by an unknown attacker. Her disappearance remains one of Philadelphia's oldest u